Personal & Policy Perspectives on the
Collegiate Recovery Movement
What it Means to a Person in Long-term Recovery
And its Implications for the Future
Peter Gaumond
Chief, Recovery Branch
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Presented June 6, 2014 at the 5th Annual Collegiate Recovery Conference
Minneapolis, MN
Personal Perspective:
Some Background
• A person in long-term recovery with 20+ years
in treatment and recovery field
• Experience of stigma and shame
– Connecting head and heart
– Recovery & personal identity
• Recovery as a communal process
– Contagious
– Transformative at the individual, family, and
community levels
An Emerging Culture of Recovery
The roads to recovery are many. – Bill Wilson – 1944
• Diverse new communities of recovery
• Emergence of overarching recovery
community that:
– Transcends pathways
– Views all successful recovery pathways as a
cause for celebration1, 2
• Online and international communities
• Greater openness, less stigma around
addiction and recovery
1. White, W.
(2008) The culture of recovery in America: Recent developments and their significance. Counselor, 9(4), 44-51.
& Kurtz, E. (2006). Linking addiction treatment and communities of recovery: A primer for addiction counselors
and recovery coaches. Pittsburgh, PA: IRETA/NeATTC.
2. White, W.,
Policy Landscape - Prevalence
Young Adult Past Month
Drug & Alcohol Use &
Binge Drinking
Percent SUD by Age Group - 2012
18.9%
20.0%
18.0%
69.2%
16.0%
70%
45.8%
50%
40%
30%
14.0%
45.1%
60%
12.0%
30.5%
19.7%
23.9%
10.0%
8.0%
7.0%
6.1%
20%
21-25
18-20
10%
0%
Drugs
Alcohol
6.0%
4.0%
Binge
2.0%
0.0%
18-20
21-25
12-17
18-25
Data Source: SAMHSA (2013). Results from 2012 NSDUH, detailed tables.
26 +
Lifetime Use – 4th Year of College*
*As reported by one institution
Policy Landscape - Impact
• Excessive drinking & drug use:
• 2006 - excessive drinking in the United States resulted in
$223 billion in lost productivity, health care, and criminal
justice costs.1
• 2007 - Illicit drug use cost the Nation an estimated $193
billion related to health care, crime, and lost productivity.2
• 2010 - An average of about 100 Americans died from
overdose every day. Drug poisoning deaths, driven by
prescription painkillers, now surpass homicides and traffic
crashes as the leading cause of injury death in America.3
1. Bouchery et al (2011) Economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S., 2006. Am J Prev Med 41 (5): 516-524
2. United States Department of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Center. (2011) The Economic Impact of Illicit Drug Use on American Society.
Washington, DC.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 2000-2010 on CDC WONDER
Online Database. Extracted December 12, 2012.
Policy Prescriptions for
the 21st Century
• Comprehensive health & wellness approach
– Education
– Universal screening intervention & linkage to
services
– Collegiate recovery communities
– Widespread drug- and alcohol-free social and
recreational activities
• Service on campus and beyond:
– High schools
– Larger community
Student Leadership
• “The servant leader is servant first.”
• Greenleaf:
– “Do those served grow as persons?
– Do they, while being served, become healthier,
wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? What can you do?
– …Focuses primarily on the growth and well-being
of people and the communities to which they
belong.”
– Organization can be servant leader, too.
Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership: https://greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/
What is Your Vision?
How do we get there?
Q & A / Discussion
Peter Gaumond
Chief, Recovery Branch
Office of National Drug Control Policy
ggaumond@ondcp.eop.gov
WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP